Current:Home > NewsRemains exhumed from a Tulsa cemetery as the search for 1921 Race Massacre victims has resumed -WealthRoots Academy
Remains exhumed from a Tulsa cemetery as the search for 1921 Race Massacre victims has resumed
View
Date:2025-04-23 13:49:46
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Archaeologists have exhumed the remains of one person and plan to exhume a second set as the search for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resumes in a Tulsa cemetery.
The remains are among 22 sets found during the current search in Oaklawn Cemetery, but are the only ones found in simple, wooden caskets as described by newspaper articles, death certificates and funeral home records, Oklahoma state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said Thursday.
“That basically suggests that we had a number of adult male individuals that were supposed to be buried in simple, wood coffins,” Stackelbeck said.
One set was taken to an onsite forensics laboratory Thursday and the second is to be excavated on Friday, Stackelbeck said. Both are of adults although the gender was not immediately known.
The latest search began Sept. 5 and is the third such excavation in the search for remains of the estimated 75 to 300 Black people killed during the 1921 massacre at the hands of a white mob that descended on the Black section of Tulsa — Greenwood.
More than 1,000 homes were burned, hundreds more were looted and destroyed and a thriving business district known as Black Wall Street was destroyed.
None of the remains have been confirmed as victims of the violence.
Previous searches have resulted in 66 sets of remains located and 22 sent to Intermountain Forensic in Salt Lake City in an effort to identify them.
Of those 22, six sets of remains have produced genetic genealogy profiles that have been connected to potential surnames and locations of interest, according to Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum. Investigators have tracked the surnames associated with the bodies to at least seven states: North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama.
The search area was chosen after ground penetrating radar found what appeared to be “makeshift” grave markers such as upright bricks and flower pots in rows, Stackelbeck said.
The search is believed to be in or near the area where a man named Clyde Eddy said in the 1990s that, as a 10-year-old boy, he saw Black bodies being prepared for burial shortly after the massacre, but was told to leave the area, according to Stackelbeck.
Bynum, who first proposed looking for the victims in 2018, and later budgeted $100,000 to fund it after previous searches failed to find victims, said at the beginning of the current excavation that trying to find people who were killed and buried more than 100 years ago is a challenge.
“It’s not that we’re trying to find a needle in a haystack, it’s that we’re trying to find a needle in a pile of needles,” Bynum said. “We’re trying to find people who were murdered and buried in a cemetery ... without the intent of being found.”
The three known living survivors of the massacre are appealing a ruling that dismissed their lawsuit seeking reparations from the city and other defendants for the destruction of the once-thriving Black district.
veryGood! (1197)
Related
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Widespread Panic reveals guitarist Jimmy Herring diagnosed with tonsil cancer
- Eminem brings Taylor Swift’s historic reign at No. 1 to an end, Stevie Wonder’s record stays intact
- New Mexico village battered by wildfires in June now digging out from another round of flooding
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Tobey Maguire's Ex Jennifer Meyer Shares How Gwyneth Paltrow Helped With Her Breakup
- LeBron James named Team USA's male flagbearer for Paris Olympics opening ceremony
- Blake Lively Quips She’d Be an “A--hole” If She Did This
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- Video shows aftermath from train derailing, crashing into New York garage
Ranking
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Netflix plans documentary on Michigan Wolverines football sign-stealer
- Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid Shut Down the Deadpool Red Carpet in Matching BFF Outfits
- Where Ben Affleck Was While Jennifer Lopez Celebrated Her Birthday in the Hamptons
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Fourth Wing TV Show Reveals New Details That Will Have You Flying High
- USA TODAY Sports Network's Big Ten football preseason media poll
- Who could Kamala Harris pick as her VP? Here are 10 potential running mates
Recommendation
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
Dave Bayley of Glass Animals reflects on struggles that came after Heat Waves success, creative journey for new album
Body camera video shows Illinois deputy fatally shooting Sonya Massey inside her home
Beach Volleyball’s Miles Evans Reveals What He Eats in a Day Ahead of Paris Olympics
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
Love Island USA's Kendall Washington Addresses Leaked NSFW Video
Shop GAP Factory's Epic Sale & Score an Extra 60% off Clearance: $6 Tanks, $9 Pants, $11 Dresses & More
Score 75% Off Urban Outfitters, 50% Off Ulta, 65% Off Sur La Table & Today's Best Deals